Dr. Hanza Diman

 

Dr. Hanza Diman

Refugee, Migration and Mobility Studies

Institute of Cultural Studies

 

Tel.: +49 89 6004-3043

hanza.diman@unibw.de

 

 

 

Hanza Diman has been a Research Associate with teaching responsibilities at the Chair of Refugee, Migration, and Social Mobility at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich since November 1, 2023. His current postdoctoral research examines the significance of communication in migration processes in West Africa from both a historical and socio-anthropological perspective.

He studied German Studies at the University of Abomey-Calavi (Benin) and completed a Master’s degree in Cultures and Societies of Africa (focus on African History, supported by scholarships from the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the DAAD) at the University of Bayreuth. In 2021, he received his PhD at the Faculty of Cultural Studies, University of Bayreuth, in cooperation with the Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies (BIGSAS), with a dissertation on the history of fuelwood and charcoal as cooking energy in Lomé (Togo) between 1907 and 2017 (summa cum laude, supported by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation and BIGSAS). In parallel, he completed the certificate program Comprendre le Monde in International Relations at the Institut de Relations Internationales et Stratégiques (IRIS), France.

He has conducted empirical field research in Togo, Berlin, and Aix-en-Provence, and serves as a reviewer for the Revue d’étude des migrations africaines. For his educational and civic engagement – among others as a founding member of Model African Union e.V. and volunteer coordinator of Afrika@school – he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in 2022, as well as the DAAD Prize in 2020. He also coordinated the third round of the film project spots of the German Film Academy at the Bayreuth location.

Research Fields:
Political History of Africa; History and Present of Intra-West African Migration; History of Communication in Africa; Border Issues in West Africa; History of Diplomacy; Energy History; Theories and Methods of Historical Research; Human–Environment Relations; Digital History; Oral History; Africa in Global Geopolitics and International Relations.

Methodological Approaches:
Critical socio-empirical research, written and oral historical approaches in the digital age, interdisciplinarity.

Thematic Research Areas:
Migration within West Africa; Military Coups in African History and the Present; Domestic use of fuelwood energy; Western Sahara conflict and African institutions; Regionalism and Transnationalism in the ECOWAS region; Archival research in the digital age; Oral History; German development and security policy in West Africa.

Regional Expertise:
West Africa (particularly Benin, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire).

 

Publications

Journal Articles:

  • “History and Future Expectations of Domestic Cooking Energy in Lomé.” Les Cahiers du LARSOC, Revue des sciences humaines et sociales sur les sociétés et les civilisations 1, no. 3 (December 2024). Peer-reviewed.
  • “Les témoins en parlent. Récits empiriques des impacts des Coups d’État de 1963 et 1967 au Togo.” Collection Recherches & Regards d’Afrique 2, no. 05 (October 2023). Peer-reviewed.
  • “Enjeu du conflit au Sahara occidental: rôles et responsabilités de l’Union Africaine et de la Communauté Économique des États de l’Afrique de l’Ouest pour un dénouement durable.” Revue Géostratégiques 60 (March 2023). Peer-reviewed.
  • Fieldwork Experiences and Practices in Africa. Bayreuth: Institute of African Studies, University of Bayreuth, 2021. VIII + 80 pp. (University of Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers 27; BIGSASworks 10). https://doi.org/10.15495/EPub_UBT_00005680.
  • “Using Oral History to Research Fuelwood Energy in Togo: Some Experiences from the Field.” University of Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers 27, BIGSASworks! 10 (2021): 5–14. https://epub.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/5680.

Book Chapters:

  • Diman, Hanza, and Nikola Tietze. “The Use of Cassettes in Labor Migration – A Perspective on a Research Approach.” In Interdisciplinary Auralities: Materialities, Epistemologies, and Sensorialities of Sound, edited by Nazan Maksudyan, Julio Velasco, Louis Petitjean, and Sarah Kiani. Heidelberg: Heidelberg Asian Studies Publishing, 2026. Peer-reviewed. https://hasp.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/catalog/series/macs.
  • Diman, Hanza, and Katrin Pfadenhauer. “Togo.” In Weltsprache Französisch: Variation, Sociolinguistics and Geographical Distribution of French. Handbook for the Study of Francoromanistics, edited by Stéphane Hardy, Sandra Herling, and Carolin Patzelt. Stuttgart, 2018.
  • Diman, Hanza, and Katrin Pfadenhauer. “Benin.” In Weltsprache Französisch: Variation, Sociolinguistics and Geographical Distribution of French. Handbook for the Study of Francoromanistics, edited by Stéphane Hardy, Sandra Herling, and Carolin Patzelt. Stuttgart, 2018.

Monographs:

  • Diman, Hanza. Comprendre les coups d’État au Togo et en Afrique: Par la pluricausalité systémique. Accepted for publication by De Gruyter, 2026.
  • Wood for the Kitchen: Towards a History of the Supply and Use of Fuelwood in an Urban Setting of West Africa; The Case of Lomé (1907–2017). PhD diss., University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies (BIGSAS), 2021. 218 pp. https://doi.org/10.15495/EPub_UBT_00005820.

Public Outreach:

  • Diman, Hanza, and Theophane Minougou. “Place à la realpolitik dans les positions du Bénin et du Burkina Faso sur la crise au Niger.” Fraternité, no. 5969 (September 28, 2023).
  • Diman, Hanza. “Coup d’État au Niger: Entre triomphe de la théorie des Dominos, implications régionales et géopolitiques.” Fraternité, no. 5520 (July 31, 2023).
  • Diman, Hanza. “The New Government’s Africa Policy in Germany: From Change to Continuity.” Farafina Reflexions, January 2022. https://farafina-institute.org/fi-reflections/.

 

Teaching

Hanza Diman has completed the higher education didactics program ProfiLehrePlus, whose quality is regularly evaluated and further developed by the respective university didactics offices and the expert panel of the ProfiLehrePlus network. He teaches courses on the following topics:

  • Borders, Politics, and Mobility: Regional Integration and Disintegration in Africa in an International Context
  • Mobility and Borders in Europe and Africa (with Prof. Dr. Berriane)
  • Introduction to the Environmental History of Africa
  • Theory and Practice of Oral History (including digital approaches)
  • Health and Reproductive Practices in Africa
  • Economic Cultures and Sustainable Development (with Dr. Nur)

 

Additional Expertise

  • Author of the Bertelsmann Transformation Index Report 2026 on Benin; reviewer of the country report on Togo for the same institution.

 

Memberships

  • African Studies Centre Leiden Community
  • Association of Historians in Germany (VHD)
  • NFDI4Memory Special Committee on Research Ethics (SCRE)
  • German Association for Social and Cultural Anthropology (DGSKA)
  • Oral History Society (United Kingdom)
  • Africa Politicum.org (Founding Member and Chair)
  • Model African Union e.V. (Founding Member)
  • Farafina Institute

 

Languages

  • German (C2+)
  • French (native level)
  • English (C1+)
  • Spanish (G1)
  • Mina/Ewe (native level)
  • Fon/Gun (native level)
  • Hausa (native level)